Apple technical notes ahead of resultsThe stock has been trading in a range since February of this year that is bound by a low at $120 and a high at $133. There have been three touches at the range high since then and two tests at the low suggesting the bias is for a breakout. If the news is strongly bullish, notably around China sales and guidance, a breakout above $133 and the brief life high at $134.54 would be highly probable. Based on the height of the range the upside potential would be to $147 to $150. Without overhead resistance, price could continue to drift beyond that objective depending on the strength of the news. If the news is a bearish surprise, which very few expect, the low of the range would likely be tested for a third time. A breakdown below $120 would have the same range expectations as on the upside, with a downside target potential to $107 to $105 implied from the range height. Such a move would break the 10-month moving average at $122.16 which has been a good proxy for the uptrend that began off lows in August 2013. The last time this average was broken was during the downturn in price in late 2012 which then ended in August 2013.

Sell PayPal amid mounting payments competition, Piper saysShares of PayPal (PYPL) advanced over 5% yesterday in the stock's first day of trading following a split from eBay (EBAY), with the majority of research firms issuing optimistic notes on its prospects. This morning, however, analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray recommends selling the share as competition grows in the digital payments space. BEARS: Munster started shares of PayPal with an Underweight rating, the firm's equivalent of a "Sell," saying increased competition could pressure the stock's multiple over the next 6-24 months. Google's (GOOG) Android Pay and Apple's (AAPL) Apple Pay will give consumers a "real alternative to PayPal" for the first time, Munster tells investors in his research note. In addition, interest in payments from Amazon.com (AMZN) and Facebook (FB) bring potential for more digital wallet offerings, the analyst notes. Munster set a $30 price target for PayPal. Of note, Evercore ISI also started coverage of PayPal shares yesterday with a Sell rating. BULLS: Wells Fargo initiated coverage of PayPal yesterday with an Outperform rating, saying the company's unique assets will enable it to maintain its leadership role in digital payments and benefit from the growth of e-commerce. Also upbeat was Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian, who contends that PayPal has the top pure play online payment system and is continuing to grow its share of the Internet payment market. PayPal should be able to innovate more effectively after its spin-off, added the analyst, who set a $45 price target on the shares. PRICE ACTION: Shares of PayPal are pointing toward further gains in their second day of standalone trading, with the stock up about 2.7% to $41.55 in pre-market trading.